Conclusion

(out of 5 stars)

Announced by Olympus at the same time as the C-360 Zoom,
the C-310 Zoom has a recommended retail price that is £30
less than its big brother, yet the cheaper model doesn't concede
anything in terms of ease-of-use or image quality. Indeed,
the C-310 Zoom has a couple of features that actually better
the C-360Zoom. The Super Macro mode allows you focus as close
as 2cm, whereas on the C-360Zoom it "only" focuses
to 7cms away from your subject. Also, in my opinion, the way
in which you power on the C-310 Zoom is faster and easier than
using the sliding lens cover of the C-360Zoom (although it
may not impress your friends as much).

Most of the comments that I made last week about the C-360 Zoom
apply equally to the the C-310 Zoom. It is a well-built camera
with a 3 megapixel sensor that will deliver prints up to A4
in size, and has the same kind of image quality as the more
expensive mju 410/400 Digital models. It is very much a point
and shoot kind of camera - you can't choose the aperture or
shutter speed, you can't manually set the ISO speed and you
can't select how much sharpening or saturation you want to
apply to your images. Instead the camera chooses the most
appropriate settings for you. This will be ideal for people
who just want to turn the camera on, press the shutter button
and get a decent picture.

Best of all, the C-310 Zoom doesn't cost too much more than
£100, an amazing bargain for such a well-designed, easy-to-use
digital camera. Once again, a highly recommended digicam from
Olympus.